Central Bucks West breaks loose in win over Souderton
FRANCONIA >> Central Bucks West not only took control of this Suburban One League Colonial Division contest but rather turned it inside out.
The Bucks had everything working, getting big buckets down low and even bigger ones from beyond the three-point line to upend rival Souderton, 47-36 on the road Thursday night.
“We always say every win is worth one point and every win on the road is worth two points,” West coach Zach Sibel said. “And with the history with West and Souderton and the teams that they have and the battles that they have, we know that a win at Souderton isn’t easy to come by.
“They’re always prepared. They have a great team and they’re playing great basketball. We had to be prepared and we had to be ready to go. The girls stepped up.”
The victory lifts the Bucks’ record to 5-3 with a home game against North Penn coming up on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Souderton, now 6-3, gets ready for a Tuesday showdown at division-leading Central Bucks East.
“It’s awesome,” West’s Emily Spratt said of the victory, “especially coming off a game like that against CB East – really close and we wound up losing. It’s a great confidence builder. We think we passed the ball well.
“I think it’s great for our confidence and hopefully we can keep it rolling.”
Spratt poured in a game-high 19 points, contributing one of the Bucks’ six 3-pointers and going a near-perfect 10-for-11 from the foul line.
Her free throws with 1 minute, 53 seconds left helped ice the game.
Paige Gilbert added 8 points for West and Katie Finnan had seven. Maggie McCusker and Anna Blue each hit a pair of threes.
“We talked about a ‘we’ approach to everything and doing it collectively,” Sibel said. “And when we make those extra passes and find those open girls off of reads, that’s what we get. We get inside-out threes and we get open shots.
“We’re giving up good shots for great ones,” Sibel said. “That’s the adjustment we made today, to get a really tough win in a battle.”
Gilbert saved a possession by making a tough pass just before going out of bounds, setting up Spratt for a basket that made it 36-26 early in the fourth.
A three by Blue stretched the lead to 11 at the six-minute mark and Gilbert later scored on a fast break.
“This is huge. With the way the season is, with the reduction of the district qualifiers, and playing against a team that’s 6-3 and is gonna win games, a team that nobody looks forward to seeing on their schedule, it’s nice to get a win here,” Sibel said.
“(Souderton) battled and made adjustments. I thought (Teya McConnaha) was amazing. I thought she did a really nice job inside.
“(Erin) Buhmueller got going a little bit. They’ve got pieces that are really good and they’re well coached so you gotta be on your ‘A’ game for four quarters. We let it slip there a little bit in the second quarter but we were able to get it back at halftime and get rolling in the second half.”
Bucks Start Strong >> CB West began the game by hitting from the outside.
A three by Spratt opened the scoring and the Bucks were making it tough for Souderton to find open shots. Big Red got their first points with about 3:20 left in the opening quarter, tying things at three apiece.
McCusker hit a three for West at the other end and the Bucks led for the remainder of the first quarter.
Spratt hit a pair of free throws and Gilbert added a bucket to give West a 10-3 advantage after the opening frame.
Souderton made a move in the second.
Trailing 16-5, Big Red got going with a 7-0 run, keyed by the free-throw shooting of Buhmueller and McConnaha (team-high 11 points), and a fast break finished off by a Jordan Zimmerman-to-Hayley Fenchel connection.
But West built its lead back up to eight, thanks in part to the inside presence of Gilbert. Souderton cut it to 20-15 at the break on a three by Zimmerman and a bucket by Olivia Schneider.
Spratt’s seven points led West’s balanced attack at the half.
Said the junior: “My teammates look for me, pass to me and they create shots.”
Souderton stayed close early in the third quarter but McCusker knocked down a three to widen the gap to 33-24 in favor of the Bucks.
West took a 10-point lead into the fourth and closed it out.
Said Spratt simply of West’s inside-outside game: “It’s hard for defenses to worry about both.”
Central Bucks West 47, Souderton 36
Central Bucks West 10 10 14 13 – 47
Souderton 3 12 9 12 – 36
CB West: Paige Gilbert 4 0-1 8, Emily Spratt 4 10-11 19, Katie Finnan 2 2-5 7, Maggie McCusker 2 0-0 6, Ava Longo 0 0-2 0, Anna Blue 2 0-0 6, Alexis Castro 0 1-2 1. Totals 14 13-21 47.
Souderton: Jordan Zimmeran 3 0-0 8, Olivia Schneider 3 1-2 7, Casey Harter 1 0-0 2, Hayley Fenchel 1 0-0 2, Erin Buhmueller 1 4-4 6, Teya McConnaha 4 3-4 11. Totals 13 8-10 36.
3-pointers: CBW-Spratt, Finnan, McCusker 2, Blue 2; S-Zimmerman 2.
